From Los Angeles to Seoul: BCD Tofu House

Hee-Sook Lee is the owner and Chief Executive of BCD Tofu House – a chain of popular 24 hour Korean restaurants that specialize in the spicy soup dish soon-tofu. BCD is an abbreviation of Book Chang Dong, a neighborhood in Seoul where her in-laws once ran a restaurant. Since its beginnings in 1996, Lee has transformed her local small business in Koreatown into a transnational brand in Seoul and across the U.S., popularizing what was once a common and little known Korean dish to food lovers all over the world. Here, Lee tells the story of how BCD Tofu House began in Los Angeles, then expanded to Seoul and its role in popularizing Korean cuisine and culture outside of Korea.